Shelf arrangement



Aug. s, 1939.

LQ F. WHITNEY SHELF ARR-ANGEMENT Filed Marh 29, 1938 ffy-ff j Atag@ Patented Aug."` 8, 1939 UNITED STATES 2.168.544 SHELF ARRANGEMENT Lyman F. Whitney` Cambridge, Mass., assigner,

by mesne assignments, to Stator Corporation,v a corporation of Rhode Island Application March 29. 193s. serial No. 193,637

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved sliding shelf arrangement, and more particularly to such an arrangement for a refrigerator cabinet.

In accordance with this invention, a shelf may 'li be supported in a cabinet or the like so that the shelf may be slid part way out of the cabinet in order to afford more convenient access to articles on the shelf, but so that movement of the shelf out of the cabinet is normally prevented. Thus,

l accidental separation of the shell 'from the cabinet is avoided. On the other hand, the present invention affords simple means including a retainer which may be manipulated to permit the shelf to be tipped slightly and then removed l entirely from the cabinet; for example, for

cleaning or the like.

l'o permit these desirable results, a plurality of supports are preferably provided upon which the shelf may slide. At one side oi' the cabinet there may be two supports, which may conveniently be in the form of metal knobs, over which the side bar `oi the shelf slide. it the same side oi the cabinet there may be an additional protuberant member or knob disposed above the members which slidably support the shelf, and a retainer may be disposed beneath this -upper knob in such a manner that the end of the shelf is constrained to follow a substantially straight-line path and to engage the upper w protuberant member or knob as an abutment 4 which limits the outward movement of the shelf. The retainer may conveniently be in the form of a simple hasp-like wire member. vThis member may be readily detached from one oi the supporting knobs so that thereupon the shelf may be tipped slightly to permit its rea'r portion to clear the upper knob so that the sheli is no longer constrained to follow a straight-line path, but can be removed from the cabinet.

m in the accompanying drawing;

Fig. ll is' a horizontal sectional view of the cabinet provided with a shelf arrangement constructed in accordance with this invention, the partially projected position of the sheli:` being indicated in dash lines;

Fig. 2 is a broken `horizontal sectional detail 0i? a portion of the shell'-supporting means and of the sidel of the streit,

Fig. 3 is a broken elevational view of the asm sernbiy shown in Fig. 2, certain parts being shown in dot and dash lines; and

Fig. i is a section on line t--t of Fig. 3.

The accompanying drawing shows a typical refrigerator cabinet with which the present Vln- 65 vention may be employed. Such a cabinet is (Cl. 2li-143) prbvided with a rear wall l with opposite side walls 2 and with a swinging iront door (not shown). In accordance with this invention` a shelf 4 may be slidably mounted in the cabinet. This shelf may comprise a perimetric wire frame 5 l. preferably formed of round wire stock, and may be provided with a plurality of flat wire slats 8 extending between thc front and rear rails of the frame. As viewed in Fig. l, the righthand side of the shell may be supported in any l0 suitable manner, as upon three knobs ill, il and IZi. These knobs are provided with round shanks on which the corresponding side bar oi the shelf may slide.

At the opposite side of the cabinet there may iii be a knob lll opposite and similar to the knob ll. Behind the knob it I also provide knobs i i and i2 which are mutually spaced. The knobs Il i and it may be similar and may provide round portions over which the corresponding side rail of the shelf may slide. These knobs, however, are provided with extensions iii, as shown in Fig. 2.

Disposed slightly above the knobs ii and l2 is an upper protuberant member or knob I6. This knob may be provided with a head i6 which has a somewhat greater diameter than its shank portion. This shank portion oi the knob i6 is `so disposed that the. upper portion of the corresponding side rail of the shelf may be spaced only'slightly `below the shank when the shelf slides forwardly in its own plane. The perimetric frame l of the shelf il may be provided with 'curved corners such as shown, for example, in

' ing a -wire loop pivotally mounted on a shallow peripheral groove of the shank it of the knob l2. The opposite end of the retainer 20 is pro vided with a downturned end portion 2i which hooks over a correspondingly grooved portion of the knob li.

When the retainer 2li is in normal position it 50 prevents the rear of. the shelf from being tipped downwardly. Accordingly, the shelf under these conditions must follow a substantially straight-` line path in its own plane as it is being slid forwardly. As this movement of the shelf is I6 relative to its normal plane sc tha't its rear porcontinued, the curved corner portion of the perimetric frame engages the head I6* of the knob Il, which acts as an abutment or stop to limit the forward movement of the shelf. This positionof the shelf is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

It is of course obvious that if preferred a knob l corresponding to the knob I6 may be similarly disposed at the opposite side of the cabinet, and furthermore that if preferred the knobs IIn and I2could be made similar to the knobs I I and I2 .and also provided with a hasn-like retainer 20.

It is evident that the retainer is readily into its inoperative position, the shelf may be move the shelf for cleaning, the retainer 20 is unhooked from the knob Il and may swing downwardly to the depending position indicated in dot and dash linesin Fig. 3. Thereupon, the rear end of the shelf may be swung downwardly, while the front of the shelf is being tipped upwardly, to permit the shelf to be removed from the cabinet. The position of the rear portion of the shelf as it is being moved away from the knob I6 in this manner is shown in dash lines in Fig. 3.-

It is evident that the present invention affords a .simple and inexpensive arrangement for slidably supporting a shelf in a refrigerator cabinet. Thisarrangement permits the shelfv readily to beslid to a partially projected position, wherein the articles supported on the shelf are more readily accessible. but the movement of the shelf entirely out of the cabinet is positively prevented -under normal conditions by the knob IB and the retainer 2l. However, when the retainer is swung readily removed for cleaning or the like.

I claim:

1. In a housing having opposite side walls, a shelf mounted for slidable movement between saidwalls. supporting means upon one of said walls slidably supporting the corresponding side of the shelf., two spaced supports projecting inwardly from the opposite wall and slidably supporting the corresponding side of the shelf, an upper protuberant element projecting inwardly from the last-named side wall over the space between said supports, said element being adaptedto engage the 'rear portion of` the shelf to act asa stop and limit the outward movement of the shelf .when the latter is slid outwardly substantiallyrwithin its own plane, and a retainer normally positioned below said element and constraining the shelf to follow a path within its own plane, said retainer being removable from its normal position topermit the shelf to be tipped tion may clear the protuberant element and the shelf may then be removed from the housing.

2. In a housing having opposite side walls, a shelf mounted for slidable movement between said walls, supporting means upon one of said walls slidably supporting the corresponding side of the shelf, two spaced supports projecting inwardly from the opposite wall and slidably supporting the corresponding side of the shelf, an upper protuberant element projecting inwardly from the last-named side wall over the space between the said supports, said element being adapted to engage the rear portion of the shelf to act as a stop and limit the outward movement y of the sheli when the latter is slid outwardly substantially within its own plane, and a retainer normally extending between the supports and below the corresponding side of the shelf, said retainer having an end pivotally mounted on one of said supports and an opposite end normally engaging the other support, said retainer then being positioned to cooperate with the protuberant element in constraining the shelf to follow a path substantially in its own plane, said retainer being swingable from its normal position to permit the shelf to be tipped out of said path so that the rear portion thereof may clear the protuberant element and the shelf may be removed from l the last-named side wall over the space between the said-supports, said element being adapted to engage the rear portion of the shelf to act as a stop and` limit the outward movement of the shelf when the latter is slid outwardly substantially within its own plane, and a hasp-like wire retainer pivotally mounted on one of said supports and normally having a hook-like engagementv with the other support, said retainer normally cooperating with the protuberant element in oonstraining the shelf to follow a path substantially in its own plane, the hook-like end of the retainer being detachable from the corresponding support so that the shelf may then be tipped so that its rear portion may clear the protub'erant element andthe shelf may be removed from the housing.

LYMAN F. WHITNEY. 

